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A bowl of orange creamy butternut squash soup, topped with fresh basil leaves. There's lemon on a cutting board in the background.

Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

  • Author: Christine Pittman
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American

DESCRIPTION

The subtle sweet flavor of the coconut milk works really well with the squash. The lemon mellows out some of the sweetness, and if you’d like, a tiny bit (like half of a teaspoon) of sriracha or other hot sauce adds a lot of depth. You’re going to love it!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 whole (3 lb.) squash*
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 10 fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
  • 1 can (13.66 oz.) coconut milk
  • 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a pan with aluminum foil. Put the whole squash onto the pan. Poke it in several places with a sharp knife. Roast until a skewer or paring knife goes in easily, 60-80 minutes. Or, cook the squash in any way you’d like until soft.
  2. Once the squash is cooked, heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until softened, 2-3 minutes.
  3. Put the squash, sauteed onion, basil leaves, coconut milk, maple syrup, and salt into a heavy-duty blender or a food processor. Puree until smooth. (Alternately, you can use an immersion blender to puree it all in the saucepan).
  4. Transfer the mixture to the sauce pan and heat over medium, stirring occasionally, until steamy hot but not boiling.
  5. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice. Stir.
  6. Taste. Add more salt and maple syrup if desired.

Notes

*1 whole 3 lb. squash is equivalent to about 4 cups of cubed raw squash.